I heard that it would be a bad thing if every country used the same seed of corn and so on as they are now not diverse and one infestation can wipe out all crops and if gmo is awesome why wont they store them Svalbard to preserve them in case of a catastrophe

Expert response from Stevan Madjarac

Global Germplasm IP Lead, Bayer

Tuesday, 12/01/2016 19:09

With or without GMOs, there is a huge variety of genetic backgrounds in corn, soy, cotton, etc. Even within a country such as the U.S., germplasms are selected for specific regions as you go through the different USDA growing zones. If you want more detail, I answered a very similar question regarding genetic diversity and the impact of GMO crops on GMO Answers. That response highlighted that “GE crops differ from conventional varieties at only the one location in the genome where the transgene has been inserted. As breeders develop new varieties containing the GM trait (using all of the same tools and assessments used in conventional breeding), the rest of the genome continues to be as diverse as would be found in the range of conventional varieties in the marketplace“  See: https://gmoanswers.com/ask/gmo-crops-affect-genetic-biodiversity for the full response.

 

As an additional resource, Robb Fraley, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Monsanto Company, wrote a blog piece “Monocultures:  The Myth…The Reality…The Future” that goes into great detail on the subject. For the full picture I highly recommend reading the full article but here is an excerpt to address your question:

 

“Myth – By leading farmers to focus on a small number of highly lucrative seeds, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) foster the spread of monocultures. As a result, they erode biodiversity and actually put humanity at risk of famine through increased crop vulnerability to disease…

 

“Reality — Corn and soybean fields may look the same as you drive by on the interstate or fly over the “I-states” (Indiana, Illinois, Iowa), but they are in fact incredibly genetically diverse. And that diversity is actually increasing.

 

“With biotechnology, we can add even more genetic diversity by incorporating foreign genes from other plants and microbes.”

 

Regarding the Svalbard Global Seed Vault managed by the Crop Trust, the objective of the vault is to broadly protect genetic diversity as represented and maintained by national seed and genebank collections. This is achieved by storing “backup” copies of existing seed depositories in the seed vault for release only back to the depositing entity. National seed deposits are generally reflective of the germplasm that is widely grown in a given county. However, as noted above, the transgenes in GM crops represent a very small, but quite valuable, fraction of the overall genetic diversity in several widely grown crops. Since the Svalbard seed vault is within a region that is administered by Norway the regulations of the Norwegian Gene Technology Act, would be applicable and any import of GM plants or seeds into the seed vault would need to be approved by the Norwegian authorities.

Expert response from Stevan Madjarac

Global Germplasm IP Lead, Bayer

Tuesday, 12/01/2016 19:09

With or without GMOs, there is a huge variety of genetic backgrounds in corn, soy, cotton, etc. Even within a country such as the U.S., germplasms are selected for specific regions as you go through the different USDA growing zones. If you want more detail, I answered a very similar question regarding genetic diversity and the impact of GMO crops on GMO Answers. That response highlighted that “GE crops differ from conventional varieties at only the one location in the genome where the transgene has been inserted. As breeders develop new varieties containing the GM trait (using all of the same tools and assessments used in conventional breeding), the rest of the genome continues to be as diverse as would be found in the range of conventional varieties in the marketplace“  See: https://gmoanswers.com/ask/gmo-crops-affect-genetic-biodiversity for the full response.

 

As an additional resource, Robb Fraley, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Monsanto Company, wrote a blog piece “Monocultures:  The Myth…The Reality…The Future” that goes into great detail on the subject. For the full picture I highly recommend reading the full article but here is an excerpt to address your question:

 

“Myth – By leading farmers to focus on a small number of highly lucrative seeds, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) foster the spread of monocultures. As a result, they erode biodiversity and actually put humanity at risk of famine through increased crop vulnerability to disease…

 

“Reality — Corn and soybean fields may look the same as you drive by on the interstate or fly over the “I-states” (Indiana, Illinois, Iowa), but they are in fact incredibly genetically diverse. And that diversity is actually increasing.

 

“With biotechnology, we can add even more genetic diversity by incorporating foreign genes from other plants and microbes.”

 

Regarding the Svalbard Global Seed Vault managed by the Crop Trust, the objective of the vault is to broadly protect genetic diversity as represented and maintained by national seed and genebank collections. This is achieved by storing “backup” copies of existing seed depositories in the seed vault for release only back to the depositing entity. National seed deposits are generally reflective of the germplasm that is widely grown in a given county. However, as noted above, the transgenes in GM crops represent a very small, but quite valuable, fraction of the overall genetic diversity in several widely grown crops. Since the Svalbard seed vault is within a region that is administered by Norway the regulations of the Norwegian Gene Technology Act, would be applicable and any import of GM plants or seeds into the seed vault would need to be approved by the Norwegian authorities.